Pruning shears



Nov. 6, 1956 s. OXHANDLER PRUNING SHEARS Original Filed Oct. 29, 1-952INVENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent @fitice 2,769,237 Patented Nov.6, 1956 2,769,237 PRUNING SHEARS saiiiiilfix handler, Hamden, Conn.,'assignor to Sargent Coinpany, New Haven, Conn., a corporation ofConnecticut Original application-October 29, 1952, Serial N 0. 317,485,,HOWllatent No. 2,715,270, dated August 16, 1955. Divided and thisapplication June 6, 1955, Serial No. 513,315

2'Claims. '(Cl. 30254) This invention relates to hand tools such aspruning shears, and more particularly to the construction of theh'an'iiles'o'f a tool of this character whereby the handles furnish acomfortable grip for the user, locate and orient the 'fin'gers of theusers hand thereon, and prevent any possibility df the fingers beingpinched when the handles are "closed in the operation of the tool. Thepresent appli'cation is a division of my co-pending application SerialNo. 317;48'5, filed October 29, 1952, now Patent No. 2,715,270, grantedAugust 16, 1955.

*In the-usualforrn of a tool of this kind a pair of pivoted handlemembers are provided, each having a cutting member secured thereto orformed integrally therewith, which members'areopened and closed uponmovement of the handles about 'the'ir p'ivot's. In thepresent-i'nstancea cutting-blade is'securedto onehandle portion and'the other carries-ananvil member which cooperates with the blade to perform the shearingoperation. The anvil consists of a pairof spaced members between whichthe blade is adapted to enter in the cutting operation, these membersacting as shear members to cooperate with the blade and effect a sharpand clean cut.

One of the handles of the tool is normally gripped between the thumb andfingers of the user while the other handle member is usually embraced bythe fingers. The present invention deals particularly with the formationof the latter handle in that means are provided on this handle to locatethe upper or forefinger of the user so that not only will the tool beproperly gripped but also this upper finger will be prevented from beingpinched by the adjacent surfaces of the handles when they are closed.

One object of the present invention is to provide a pruning shear whichwill be more eflicient in operation than devices of this kind presentlyavailable upon the market.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pruning shear havingan improved hand grip so that it may be readily held in the hand of theuser during operation even though a considerable force is necessary tooperate the tool.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a pruning shearhaving an improved hand grip so that the fingers of the user will beproperly located or oriented upon the handle of the tool and will beprevented from entering the space between the handles and being pinchedwithin this space when the handles are closed.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features andcombinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the shears embody.- ing myinvention showing the jaws in open position;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the shears;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the jaws in closed positionand some parts being broken away to show the interior structure; and

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the cutting blade and adjacent portion of thehandle to which it is attached.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I have shown inthe drawings pruning shears comprising a pair of hollow handle members10 and 11, these members being conveniently formed of sheet metal sothat they present a rounded outer surface to provide a convenient gripand at the same time are of relatively light weight.

The side walls of the handle member 11 at the upper end of the latterare flattened and pressed together toprovide a pair of spaced shear oranvil members '12 and 13, these members, as shown more especially inFig. 2, being displaced inwardly at their upper edges so as to providebetween them a relatively narrow space 14. This space, as will beexplained hereafter, is adapted to receive the cutting blade, and theopposing inner edges of these membets on each side of the space 14 actas shear members to cooperate with the blade and perform the shearingoperation.

At their outer or forward ends each of the members 12 and 13 isdisplaced outwardly so as to provide outwardly diverging lugs 15 and 16,these lugs, as will be hereinafter explained, serving as guide membersto guide the blade into the space or opening 14 between the'shearmembers. These lugs stand upwardly to a slight extent from the generallevel of the upper surfaces of the shear members '12 and 13 and serve tolimit the opening between the cutting members.

The members 12 and 13 may be secured together by the rivet 17 and thewalls of the handle member 11 may be similarly secured by the rivets 18and 19, which latter rivets also serve to support certain of themechanism of the shears, as will be hereinafter explained.

Secured to the upper portion of the handle member 10 by rivets 20 is aflat shank 2-1 shaped to form a blade head 22, the 'lower portion ofwhich is sharpened to provide a cutting blade 23 having a sharp loweredge 24 designed to enter the space 14 between the shear members 12 and13. At approximately the junction of the shank 21 and head 22 thismember is pivoted by the pivot pin 25 to the members 12 and 13 of thehandle 11. This provides the pivotal connection betwen the handles aboutwhich the cooperating cutting members move.

A spring 39 is coiled about the rivet 19 (Fig. 3), one end of the springacting against the shank 21 of the blade head and the other end actingagainst the web 31 of the handle member 11, the spring being tensionedto maintain the handles in open position, as shown in Fig. 1.

In order to lock the handles in closed position a locking member 32 ispivoted on the rivet 18. This member is provided at its upper end with alocking dog 33 designed to engage below a shoulder 34 provided on theblade head 22, as shown in Fig. 3. When the parts are in this positionthe engagement of the dog 33 with the shoulder 34 will prevent theopening of the handle members by the spring 30.

The locking member 32 is provided with a web portion having a roughenedsurface 35 which projects through an opening in the handle 11 so that itmay be engaged by the thumb of the operator so as to move the lockingmemher to its operative position. It will be seen that pressure of thethumb on the member 35 above the pivot 18 will result in moving thismember in a counterclockwise direction so that the dogging member 33will engage the shoulder 34. A spring 36 is wound about the rivet 18,and the lower end of this spring acts against the web 31 of the handle11 while the upper end of the spring acts against the part 35 of thelocking member 32 to normally urge the locking member to its inoperativeposition or its locking position notwithstanding the action of thespring 36 tending to move the dog 33 outwardly.

It will be noted that in Fig. 3 the handles and 11 are in slightlyspaced position, and when they are pressed together by the operator thedog 33 will be released from engagement with the shoulder 34 and will beautomatically moved outwardly to the position shown in Fig. 1 by thespring 36.

As will be understood, the fingers of the operator will normally begripped around the handle member 10 with the handle 11 being grippedbetween the thumb and fingers. In order to orient and locate the fingersof the user and prevent them from slipping from the handle 10, thismember is shaped to provide a grip in the form of a recess or depression38 on the front face of the handle, this depression lying betweenprojections 39 and 40, the latter being at the extreme upper end of thehandle member. This grip or depression will normally receive theforefinger of the operator and prevent the fingers from slipping eitherupwardly or downwardly upon the tool during operation.

Also in the present tool the closing movement of the jaws will normallybe limited by contact of the portion 41 of the handle member 10 with theportion 42 of the handle member 11. As these two parts of the handlemembers approach each other, there might be danger of the finger of theoperator being pinched between them if the recess .38 were not providedto locate and prevent the slipping of this finger into the space betweenthe handles.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention,it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the detailsshown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit ofthe invention and Within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

l. A pruning implement comprising a pair of pivoted, cooperatingshearing members, a handle carrying each of said members, said membersextending laterally at an angle to the longitudinal dimension of thehandles, and the upper end of one handle lying below a portion of theother handle to contact the latter and limit closing movement of thehandles, one of said shearing members being a cutting blade having ashank member to which the upper end of said one handle is secured, andsaid lastnamed handle having a rounded outer face and spaced upper andlower projections on said face formed integrally with the handle toprovide a finger seat therebetween, and the upper of said projectionsbeing located at the upper end of the handle adjacent the point ofcontact between the handles to guard against the finger of the operatorbeing pinched between the handles.

2. A pruning implement comprising a pair of pivoted, cooperatingshearing members, a handle carrying each of said members, said membersprojecting laterally from the handle members at an angle to thelongitudinal dimension thereof, one of said members being a cuttingblade having a shank member to which the upper end of its handle issecured, said last-named handle having an upper end portion lying belowand adapted to contact a portion of the other handle member to limitclosing movement of the handles, said handle having a recess in itsouter face adjacent its upper end, which recess is provided by spacedupper and lower projections formed integrally with the handle, and theupper projection being at the upper edge of the handle to prevent thefinger of the operator from, slipping over such edge and being pinchedbetween the handle members at the point of contact therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,370,026 Elia Feb. 20, 1945 2,662,285 Yeomans Dec. 15, 1953 2,662,286Yeomans Dec. 15, 1953 2,689,401 Kalish Sept. 21, 1954

